A somewhat grim update on the COVID-19 situation was what Randolph County Health Department Administrator Angela Oathout presented to the county commissioners at their Aug. 21 meeting.
“The wheels fell off the bus this week,” Oathout.
She noted that the county had 78 new cases that week and the health department was helping deal with an outbreak at the Menard Correctional Center. As of that morning, she stated there were 41 positive inmates and 15 positive staff members.
“We’re working with them to get mitigation strategies in place.” These strategies include increased isolation, having one inmate per cell, separating the inmates, limiting inmate movement, offering testing and requiring masks to be worn.
The county health department already dealt with an outbreak at the Chester Mental Health facility, and Oathout reported things at that facility were good there now. “It was us stepping in and providing guidance to eradicate (COVID),” she said. Now there are just a few cases limited to the staff there.
For more, please see this week’s print edition.